There is an old saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.” According to this definition of behavior, sales people often perform as though they are insane. I have often responded to the inquiry, “how are you doing?” with the response, “I’m in a [...]

The story is told of a businessman who spent several days each week traveling around the country visiting his different clients. Spending so many days away from home, he was becoming somewhat weary when it came to mealtime. Restaurant food had become routine and he was always looking for something different or at least better. [...]

A sales person who sells someone something they don’t need should be taken behind the proverbial old barn and horse whipped. The same goes for a sales person who is unable to persuade someone to buy something they really do need because the prospect will end up buying something they don’t need from someone else. [...]

Effective questioning is one of the most powerful tools a sales person can use to close more sales. Most sales people are excellent at talking about the features and benefits of their products and services, but far fewer sales people are effective in asking the questions that lead to increased sales. In each phase of [...]

Eighty percent of all buyers say “No” before they eventually say “Yes”. The word no is an easy and convenient way of saying, “I don’t have time right now”, or “I don’t know enough about your product to say yes”, or “I’m not in the mood to buy anything right now”, or a lot of [...]

One of my greatest frustrations with sales people revolves around the notion that sales performance is mysteriously tied to trends in the economy. In other words, when the economy is good sales are good. When the economy is bad sales are bad. Nothing could be further from the truth, yet sales results typically parallel the [...]